Evaluation of the Hydropower Potential of the Torysa River and Its Energy Use in the Process of Reducing Energy Poverty of Local Communities

Peter Tauš and Martin Beer
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Peter Tauš: Institute of Earth Sources, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Technologies and Geotechnology, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Martin Beer: Institute of Earth Sources, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Technologies and Geotechnology, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: The presented paper deals with the evaluation of hydropower potential in a selected section of the Torysa river in the eastern part of the Slovak Republic. This part of the country was chosen based on the existence of a significant risk of increasing energy poverty in local marginalized communities. Small hydropower plants in the form of mini and micro installations are an ecological and economical way to secure electricity and suppress indicators of energy poverty. The essential part of work focuses on the quantification of the gross (theoretical), technical, and economic hydropower potential of the Torysa river using elevation data obtained by GIS tools and hydrological data provided by The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute. The next step identified concrete locations with a suitable head and volumetric flow rate. In the last part, the assessed section of the Torysa river was analyzed in terms of geographical collisions with NATURA 2000 areas, historical heritage elements in the country, and natural water bodies without hydropower potential (i.e., lakes, ponds, etc.). The resulting technical hydropower potential of selected part of Torysa river is 5425 kW and the economic potential is 1533 kW.

Keywords: renewable energy sources; hydropower potential; small hydroelectric power plant; energy poverty; Slovak Republic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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